How to Set Up 2 SSDs in RAID 0 when Windows 8 is Already Installed

HiTechObsessedMay 1, 2014, 7:47 PM

Not sure how to start off, so I'll just jump right in.

I have a 128GB Samsung 840 Pro right now, and it has Windows 8.1 Pro installed. I originally had Windows 7, but upgraded via download to 8.1 Pro as my University email was expiring. I just recently got a Corsair Force 128GB SSD, and was wanting to try my hand at RAID, as I've never done anything with RAID and thought it'd be fun.

Now, the 'problem'. If I had a Windows 8.1 disc, I would just format the 2 SSDs, setup RAID in the BIOS, install the OS and be golden, but I'm not really sure about the best route to take from my current position. That's where (hopefully) y'all come in. I'm curious as to what y'all think I should do, and if RAID is a good option, then how to best go about doing it.

You can play around with it if you want, but it'd not really needed. RAID0 just gives you a double chance of losing data because if EITHER of the drives goes bad, data from both is gone. You'll see a speed boost, but with an SSD, it's already a lot faster than a regular hard drive.

If you maintain good backups, feel free to do what you want. I'd run a full disk clone on the system, then setup RAID0, install Windows and see if you can tell any difference. A benchmark like HDTune may give you some info if you run it before and after the setup. You can always go back to one drive by dumping the image backup you made onto the system after resetting the drive setup in the BIOS from RAID.

Yeah, I think the general consensus is to not do RAID lol I think I'll just keep the one SSD as a 'games' drive or something, then use the 840 Pro for Windows and programs.

I just bought the Corsair Force as it is red, and with the 840 Pro being black, it matched perfectly for how the H440 has the two SSD locations. I'll probably just end up getting another HDD and doing a RAID 1 array or something, as my wife's business stuff is on my HDD

Keep in mind that RAID 1 is not a substitute for backups. It will just mirror the other drive, it's more of a disaster recovery method when the drive fails. You should still have something for backup of files. Let's say a bunch of documents or something become corrupt. With RAID 1 you just have a copy of the bad documents on the to other disk. If you have a backup system, you can restore those files from that.

RAID 1 is useful when a hard drive dies. You swap to the second drive, replace the bad one, and off you go.

While RAID SEEMS like it's a backup method, it's really only partially that. The correct setup is RAID for drive failure situations and a copy of the files for other issues like your kid selecting all your files and deleting them or a cat walking across the keyboard and wiping out a day of typing.